IDENTITY CONTROL OF BLOOD-SAMPLES IN FAVO R OF SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS FOR SWINE VESICULAR DISEASE AND AUJESZKY-DISEASE

A surveillance programme for swine vesicular disease (SVD) and Aujeszk y disease was set up in 1993 in the Netherlands. Blood samples are tak en from pigs by local veterinarians to enable testing for the presence of antibodies against these viruses. A programme to guarantee the ide ntity of pigs tested for these diseases has been in operation since la te 1995. In this programme, pigs are identified on the basis of the DN A profiles of blood and hair samples. The hair samples are collected b y the department of Animal Health Control. Analysis proves whether blo od and hair samples are from the same animal. A total of 655 animals h ave been tested from 94 farms. In 38.6 % of these farms differences,we re found between blood and hair samples.